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zackolaon The physics of Angry Birds

The cool thing about the article was that I learned about the free video tracking/analysis software. Could be pretty interesting stuff in other contexts.

zackolaon [dead]

From the guy's twitter, he's looking for a new job, which is good because he seems deeply dissatisfied. However if anyone manages to put together his resume with this website, he'll have himself and the shitty economy to blame for not finding anything. http://twitter.com/goneaway/status/5392805101

zackolaon Ask HN: Who Is Hiring? (October 2010 Edition)

http://StreetEasy.com, New York City

Cover letter and resume to:

  ruby -r base64 -e 'puts Base64.decode64("d29ya0BzdHJlZXRlYXN5LmNvbQ==")'

Seeking experienced ruby/rails developers! Curiosity about the New York City real estate market a a plus :)

zackolaon A&P turns $0.88 of postage into 200k uniques

Good to see even big businesses can act like humans sometimes :)

zackolaon Ask HN: What do you do to relax?

run (although this amps you up, not winds you down) play guitar (this could go either way)

zackolaon Ask HN: What's your dev teams git multi-environment setup workflow like?

This is how we do it. http://reinh.com/blog/2009/03/02/a-git-workflow-for-agile-te...

zackolaon Incredibly Depressing Mega Millions Lottery Simulator

I once one $100 in a mega millions drawing. I bought the tickets when I was tipsy so maybe that's the key ;)

zackolaon Ask HN: What would you like to see from an IRC network?

Room chat history! I am an IRC novice so I'm not sure if that exists as part of a server already somewhere. I haven't been able to find it, but I haven't looked very hard.

zackolaon Poll: Why don't you have your email in your HN profile?

What I would actually want is to be able to put something like

  ruby -r base64 -e 'puts Base64.decode64("emhhbGJyZWNodEBnbWFpbC5jb20=")'

into the email field. Doesn't take probably for length or validation reasons :) Anyone who can't figure that out, I don't think I want emailing me through HN.

zackolaon Ask HN: What have you built? (not software related)

How did you learn about building the guitar? I'd love to see pics/see design plans. Electric or acoustic?

zackolaon Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

+1 more for trying to get your job back. When I left my corporatey job of 5+ years to join a 10 person startup in August 2008 as I walked out the door on my last day the CEO said something I'll never forget - "If you ever need a job, just call me." Total class. If you've done good work for someone and they aren't morons, of course they will want you back whether it's a year in the future or a week :)

zackolaon Ask HN: Interview Thank You Emails. Necessary?

This isn't corporate BS, this is you following up and letting them know you were listening to what they were saying, perhaps continuing a discussion that was had or sharing links to some things you talked about.

If you can't bother or aren't excited enough to email the people you interviewed with, who will potentially be the people you spend 50% of your waking hours with if you get the job, why bother applying in the first place?

zackolaon The Vanishing Lunch Break

Like your lunch? Like ruby/rails? In NYC? Come work with us at StreetEasy.com - We make it a point to get out of the office for lunch. Oh and we build some cool stuff too. :)

Resume and cover letter to:

  ruby -r base64 -e 'puts Base64.decode64("emhAc3RyZWV0ZWFzeS5jb20=\n")'

zackolaon [dead]

That's some good fucking advice!

zackolaon Ask HN: "a piece of code you're proud of" - what does it mean?

This sounds like pure laziness on their part. If they want to see a small chunk of code you are proud of to evaluate competence and style they should be asking you to solve some puzzle or problem with code. Etsy does this, so does Dropbox. http://www.dropbox.com/jobs/challenges

zackolaon Bloglines is shutting down. End of an era.

What do you use?

zackolaon Ha Do That in HTML5

I was around for The Dark Ages for sure, and even including everything there, this button is worse. I'd even prefer a Java applet mirror reflection button to this thing.

zackolaon Ha Do That in HTML5

That is the ugliest button I've ever seen on the internet.

zackolaon 1021 byte real-time raytracer in JS. Not cool enough for js1k, though.

Why not cool enough for js1k?

zackolaon HTML5 resume

http://gogglesdonothing.ytmnd.com/

zackolaon Ask HN: tips for working with Mac OS X without using the mouse? (RSI)

I'd say try becoming ambidextrous with the mouse, and switch hands every month or so.

And under Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts make sure Full Keyboard Access is on 'All Controls' so you can focus/select buttons with tab.

Also, make that useless Caps Lock key into Ctrl :)

Ctrl+F2 = Access Menu bar Ctrl+F3 = Access Dock

I will give someone 1 american dollar if they can tell me how to get menu bar selections to wrap back around to the top when I get to the bottom of the menu.

EDIT - the magic mouse has been fantastic for eliminating the need for precise clicking when scrolling - that swipe to scroll feature is amazing, especially in tabular apps like Sequel Pro and Excel.

zackolaon What do you want from Windows 8?

Fully POSIX compliant shell.

zackolaon AdGrok (YC S10) Simplifies Keyword Bidding And More On Google AdWords

Flamebait isn't a great marketing plan. When someone says adgrok now I think, "hm that's the guy who wrote the rant that New York's tech scene sucks", not "that's the company who built a great product that will be super useful to me and maybe even help me make money". Sure, my perception can be changed - Antonio seems like a decent guy, but why start with a negative perception of the company based on a largely personal rant?

Maybe antonio can give us some signup stats to go with the wave of traffic? I'd certainly be curious about the effect it had, even if it was very general (up 4000%, etc.)

zackolaon AdGrok (YC S10) Simplifies Keyword Bidding And More On Google AdWords

In that case it's a bit odd you posted that on the adgrok blog.

zackolaon Poll: How do you combat RSI?

I've found that the mouse is the major culprit in any discomfort I might feel. I've cut down this discomfort to almost none by embracing keyboard shortcuts and accessibility options that only use the keyboard. This was actually easier on windows than it is on osx with the menu accelerators turned on, but I learn new tricks every week :)

I almost forgot! Do not compromise on correct desk and chair height. I one had a CEO/owner who was neurotic about the neatness of the office and having several desks next to each other that were not adjusted to the same height seemed to her like it was sloppy and unprofessional. With people with a range of heights in the room, clearly one desk height does not fit all. It took a little time and some research, but after educating her on why personalized desk height is a necessity and not a luxury, she came around, even if it was grudgingly.

zackolaon Ask HN: please review my site - Marrily.com

Yes - It's a tent card with guest name and table number on it. Guests will (hopefully) pick them up as the reception starts and they head to sit down.

zackolaon Microsoft turns on Visual Studio LightSwitch

Yes, because clearly they didn't have enough enough versions of this product already.

zackolaon Ask HN: please review my site - Marrily.com

I definitely would have found this very helpful when I got married. Too bad you didn't release it last year!

- It would be awesome if you could print your own table place cards directly from the table arrangement section. Or at least export your guest list to Excel so you can mail merge it.

- The vendors page needs some sort of spreadsheet/table like interface so you can compare costs of vendors you are vetting but haven't necessarily selected yet.

zackolaon IDEO re-thinks the ATM

By removing the physical keypad you totally screw everyone with vision impairments. Check out the keypad and side-screen buttons next time you use an ATM, they most likely have braille on them. The 90° thing is a good idea though.